Retail development feeling neighborly

Planners, developers have designs on better curb appeal for town

Published 7:34 pm, Thursday, June 27, 2013

A developer is seeking to add seven new retail buildings in town, including a bank and two restaurants, but the approach to its construction will differ markedly from the typical suburban strip mall.

Nigro Companies is proposing the new development at the Shops of Malta, which would be the first project to fall under a new type of zoning that aims to create a more neighborhood feel to projects. Rather than vast spaces for parking upfront, the new approach calls for street-side parking, buildings closer to the curb and parking lots behind buildings, said Anthony Tozzi, the town's planning director.

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"In suburban development, you typically see asphalt," he said. "Normally what you would see is buildings surrounded by parking with a very narrow green strip."

Under the new approach approved by the Town Board in February, Malta works with developers to make their properties more pleasant to see.

"It keeps the buildings close to the street. It screens the parking," he said. Landscaping is more prominent than just a few strips of grass.

Nigro Companies already owns the Price Chopper Plaza there, and the parcel where the new buildings would go is part of the same property, Tozzi said.

Steven Powers, vice president of the Nigro Companies, said the plan is to build as tenants are signed. He said he could not yet identify any prospective tenants or how much of an investment his firm planned to make.

At the intersection of Kendall Way and Route 9, a 4,100-square-foot restaurant with drive-through window would be located on one side of the street and a 2,500-square-foot bank with drive-through opposite it.

Up Kendall Way, there would be two 6,000-square-foot retail buildings. A third building of the same size would follow, with a 1,750-square-foot restaurant with drive-through following. The northernmost building would have 2,400 square feet of retail space.

"It's very pedestrian-friendly," Powers said of the new design approach.